prepaid_data_sim_cardfandomcom-20200216-history
Talk:Thailand/@comment-24682153-20190407215243/@comment-24682153-20190408065712
You are right that the Asia SIM is '3'99 THB which is still equal to US$12.5 or €11 for 5GB and 8 days. So you get a GB for THB 80 which is a good price for a roaming SIM. But in most countries of SE Asia, you'll get cheaper rates on a local SIM. For instance in Malaysia you pay RM 19 for 5GB which is 1/3 of the Thai price. So it's still the choice you have: the more expensive roaming SIM which is more convenient vs. the cheaper local SIM. I'm pretty sure that it matters where you buy it. In Thailand it's only distributed through AIS and AIS-resellers and all vendors stick to the given list price. Abroad this price jumps up considerably. On Amazon you can find it for $20 and I see it on eBay for €30. When you want to have it delivered home, surely this adds to the price too. And I wonder, if they register it right according to Thai law, when you buy it abroad. The video is misleading. First, you are stuck with AIS' miserable top-up system. They have a dedicated English top-up site. But they don't mention with one word, that they don't accept foreign credit cards. So users get frustrated there. That's why we mention Mobiletopup.com here which seems to be the cheapest alternative. This site gives a security warning on Firefox about an expired certificate which is not very trustworthy to put your credit card details in. PromptPay is a Thai exclusive payment system, that no non-residents will have and cryptocurrencies most travellers won't have either. So they are stuck with a surcharge of around 5%. It's still reasonable, but adds to the price. I don't know how you are able to top-up THB 10 through Mobiletopup by credit card in the video. The minimum amount has been lowered, but is still at THB 20 that you have to top up for 12 times to get a year of validity. About the European and US prices. First after the awful latency in Australia, I'm not sure if it's a good option outside the SE Asia area, but I may test it in Europe these days. A latency of 400ms is even for a roaming SIM too high. You are normally around 100ms and that's where SIM2Fly is at where I checked in SE Asia. It'd be interesting to see the numbers from overseas. Price comparisons for Europe or the US are hard to do. Most of Europe is now under "roam like at home" scheme. You take a SIM from one country and can use it in another for the domestic data price. These vary a bit on local SIMs but are now mostly between €0.50-€5 per GB. So THB 899 or €25 for 4GB isn't cheap, but no rip-off either. On the other hand, in the US you don't get small packs cheaply. About your question: Yes I used the AIS app. It's mostly translated into English, but you still get frequent messages and advertisements in Thai which can be annoying.